Gas control system



Aug. 8, 1933. c, s. JOHANN GAS CONTROL SYSTEM Original Filed Sept. 28, 1928 ATTORNEYS.

m 1 m 1 5 1 m m .11 1 r 2 v mm m: :1: i/ %W J 2/ w w "w 9 5 m Patented Aug. 8, 1933 PATENT OFFICE GAS CONTROL SYSTEM Charles s. Johann, New York, N. Y.

Application September 28, 1928, Serial P10308399 Renewed April 29, 1930 12 Claims.

The invention comprises a combined filling and discharge fixture for the containers of CO2 and other compressed gases, adapted to facilitate the process of discharging and recharging the containers, and more particularly the object is to provide improved means for opening a container whereby with a single base fixture it may be opened by the application of one of several different types of power agencies, that is to say, gravity, electricity or fiuid pressure as preferred for a particular service.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the principles involved in the invention, Fig. 1 being an axial section in its normal or closed position, Fig. 2 showing the fixture adjusted for filling, Fig. 3 a section on line III-III of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 the gravity actuating head, Fig. 5 the electrical actuating head, Fig. 6 the pneumatic or fluid pressure head, and Fig. '7 a manual or mechanical head.

The fixture as shown in these figures, comprises a main hollow body 1, provided with a threaded tubular nipple 2 by which it is screwed tightly into the opening of the steel bottle or container 3. The bore through the nipple terminates in an elevated seat 4 within the interior of the fixture for sealing disc means. including a frangible disc 5 which disc means, when applied, forms the closure of the bottle. The phrase disc means is used in the specification and claims to indicate the frangible disc 5 together with means, if any, associated with the disc and designed to seat upon the seat 4. Such disc is made of sheet copper or other material of appropriate thickness. It is carried, along with such associated means, on the inner end of a plug member 6 which is mounted in the fixture body, by screw threading or otherwise so as to make a tight joint therewith and at the same time permit it to be moved toward and from the disc means seat in the hollow or chambered part of the fixture body. It is preferred to thread the plug to the interior of the body as indicated and with many threads of slow pitch and liberal diameter, which not only reduces the leakage possibilities but also provides the means of exerting-a powerful pressure on the disc means to pressit tightly against the seat. The outer end of the plug is hexed as shown to take awrench but could be otherwise designed. The sealing disc is held to the inner end of the movable plug by a flanged retainer ring or nut 7 the interior diameter of which is larger than the seat 4 so that it can surround it when the includes the associated fibre washer 8 is applied to the plug when the latter is removed from the body and when the plug has been introduced into the body, but before the disc means is seated, as

shown in Fig. 2, the fixture is in condition for the filling or charging of the bottle. The CO2 or other fluid is then introduced, in the construction shown, through a pipe connection 9 at the side of the fixture and passes through the space around the end of the plug, the lower end of the plug being preferably of lesser diameter than the chambered part of the fixture body and under the disc means and through the so-called siphon tube 3 into the bottle. The plug is then screwed home as indicated in Fig. 1 and the bottle is thus permanently sealed under pressure by the disc means and fitting, the filling pipe being then of course removed. The application of the disc means is thus efiected by direct manual operation of the disc carrier, done by means of a simple wrench applied to the hexed head of the carrier and avoids the need of any special tools or fittings applied to the bottle, as heretofore necessary for charging it.

In addition to its function of applying and pressing the sealing disc means to its seat, the plugmember carries also" the means by which the disc is opened or punctured, consisting in the present case of a piercer plunger 10 mounted to reciprocate therein and extending to the exterior through a packing or gland 11, which is preferably of the labyrinth type. The piercer proper marked 12 is tubular, and fenestrated, or otherwise shape'd, so that when it has punctured the disc a free path for the outflowing fluid is provided through it or around it and through the radial slots 13, and annular groove 14 (in the plug) to the pipe connection 9 which is now to be assumed as connected to a piping system leading to the place of discharge. The opening through connections 9 thus serves as an entrance for charging and exit for discharging. A spring 15 normally urges the piercer outwardly but the pressure of the fiuid may also blow it outwardly pressing its coned collar 16 firmly into valve-seat contact with the correspondingly coned seat on the gland nut 11, thus augmenting the sealing function of the latter and effectually preventing leakage of the CO2 during discharge. The virtue of the labyrinth packing will be seen to be that it is metallic and thereby affords a proper guideway for the plunger for producing accurate seating of the collar valve 16, thus promoting simplicity. The piercer plunger is shown provided with a knob 17 at its outer end whereby it may be depressed as by striking it, but this knob may be omitted when other agencies are used for actuating it. It will be observed that in the event the device should be used without the piercer, the disc will still retain its function of a safety disc allowing the gas, if its temperature and consequently its pressure becomes; excessive, to escape in the emergency through the bore and. cross-bore of the plug or disc-carrier into the discharge line.

The new fixture is specially intended for use I in fire extinguishing systems using liquid CO2 in the bottle and, according to the nature of the installation, is often necessary to have its piercer arranged for automatic actuation using therefor gravity or such other source of power as may be convenient or available, for example electricity or fluid pressure, and. also for actuation from a assembled will produce a complete operating unit,

very compact and safely guarded against possibility of derangement. The manufacturer is thus enable to meet any condition of installation with the least expense and loss of time and systems once installed for one method of operation can be thereafter changed over to any other without changing the bottles or interfering with the piping thereof.

The attachment means referred to consists of the screw threads at the top of the fixture body and the associated abutment surface or shoulder 18. Each type of actuating head is provided with a base ring 19 fitting this screw-thread and adapted to abut against the shoulder in which position the normal position and stroke of its striker will be adapted for properly depressing the piercer to open the bottle.

In the gravity head shown in Fig. 4 the. basering 19 supports a closed casing 20 surrounding the end of the piercer plunger and containing a striker in the form of a weight 21 normally supported by a hook lever 22; The casing might of course be integral with the base ring, though not so shown. The hook 22 is sustained by a cord or the like which might be, released automatically, .as by the fusing of a link or otherwise and as well understood, and when released allows the weight to fall upon and actuate the piercer. The length of drop is sufficient so that a weight suflicient to produce piercing of the disc is not too heavy to prevent the piercer from being blown back to its normal position by the gas pressure as above described.

In Fig. 5, the casing of the actuating head contains a solenoid 23 adapted to be connected in the circuit of a source of current, usually that of the electrical system which is protected against fire. When the solenoid is energized its armature 24 is pulled downwards causing its brass or non-magnetic striker-pin 25 to strike the plunger, or the knob 17, if present, thus opening the bottle. The extension 26 on the upper end of the armature extends through the casing cover and forms an auxiliary manual means of operation and also serves to support the light spring which holds the armature up when not energized.

ba'se fixture, the normal position of the striker and has a collar valvemoacting therewith to aug- In the pneumatic or fluid pressure head of Fig. 6, the striker is the'lower face of a piston 27 working in the casing of the head and normally sustained by a spring applied to its stem outside the cylinder. Admission of fluid pressure, such for example as CO2 from another bottle through pipe connection 28 to the upper side of the piston causes it to strike and actuate the piercer and actuation may also be produced manually by striking the knob 26 on the stem. The lower face of the piston is preferably cupped or recessed to set over the head of the discpiercer plunger and thus reduce the height of the cylinder.

In Fig. 7 the base ring 19 supports a bracket arm 29 providing the fulcrum for a pivoted striker or lever 30 adapted for operation, as by pulling the wire 31 to depress the piercer. In each form of actuating head, when screwed into the is correlated to the length of the piercer plunger so as to be suited for depressing it and thus any head can be applied interchangeably to the base fixture, and in each form also: except Fig. '7, the casing of the actuating head forms a protective enclosure for the striker mechanism. This may represent a complete enclosure except where an auxiliary manual actuating knob is desired, as in the cases illustrated. In each of these forms, also the auxiliary manual actuator 26 provides a direct or straight line operation of the piercer which is desirable but it' is not necessary that the piercer knob 17 be left in place when any of these actuating heads are employed, although so shown in the drawing. 110

After discharge the actuating head, if any, is removed and the container refilled, for which purpose its disc-carrier plug is backed out of the fixture body, thereby pulling the remnants of the fractured disc off the seat. A new disc is then inserted and the filling process carried out as above described, no special tools being required.

I claim:

1. A combined filling and discharging fixture for fluid 'pressure containers comprising a chambered fixture body having means for conducting fluid thereto for charging and therefrom for discharging and provided with a disc means-seat, a sealing disc means, a carrier for said disc means movably mounted in the fixture, means for secur- 1Z5 ing the disc means to the carrier, said disc means carrier closing said chamber against any substantial leakage during filling, and being constructed and arranged to be moved to and from a position in which the disc means is spaced from the seat thus supporting the disc means in a position separated from the seat for chargingand adapted for clamping it thereon, and a disc means piercer carried by said carrier.

2. A fixture as specified in claim 1, in which the piercer slides in and is guided by a labyrinth packing in said carrier.

3. A fixture as specified in claim 1, in which the piercer slides in a labyrinth type packing ment the sealing function of the packing during filling of the container.

4. A combined filling and discharging fixture for fluid pressure containers comprising a chambered fixture body having means for conducting fluid thereto and therefrom and provided with a ,disc means seat, a movable carrier at all times operable from without the flxture,,a disc means carried by the carrier, said disc means being clamped thereby upon the seat, and a disc means-piercer adapted to be supported in operative relation to the 'disc means.

5. A combination charging and discharging fixture for fluid pressure containers comprising a fixture body applied to a container of fluid pressure and having a chambered space through which said container is charged and also discharged, a sealing disc means, a disc means seat, a tubular disc means carrier mounted movably in and making a substantially tight joint. with said body and having a portion operable from the exterior of the fixture for clamping the disc means upon its seat, said carrier being provided with a port above its disc means connecting its interior bore with said chambered space when the disc means is seated, and means occupying the bore of said tubular disc means carrier adapted to prevent escape of fluid through said bore.

6. A combination charging and discharging fixture for fluid pressure containers comprising a fixture body having a chamber forming a passage for charging and discharging and provided with a disc means seat, a sealing disc means having a frangible disc for closing said passage, a carrier for said disc means having a portion threaded within the chamber of the body and fitting the same snugly so as to prevent substantial leakage during charging and also having a part constituting an operating head outside the chamber adapted for the application of a wrench thereto for actuating the carrier to clamp the disc means upon said seat.

7. A combined filling and discharging fixture for fluid pressure containers comprising a chambered fixture body having means for conducting fluid thereto and therefrom and provided with a disc means seat, a movable carrier adapted for operation from without the fixture and having a longitudinal bore, a disc means carried by the carrier, said disc means being clamped thereby upon the seat, and a disc means piercer carried by the disc means carrier and received in its bore for endwise movement therein.

8. A combined filling and discharging fixture for fluid pressure containers comprising a chambered fixture body having means for conducting fluid thereto and therefrom and provided with a disc means seat, a movable disc means carrier, a disc means, a disc means opening member mounted in the fixture in operative relation to the disc means, a clamp ring clamping the disc means to the carrier and enabling it to withdraw the clamped remnants of the disc means after discharge, said carrier being accessible exteriorly of the fixture for direct manual operation.

9. A combination fixture for fluid pressure containers of the kind described comprising a fixture body connected to the container and having a sealing disc means and disc means seat, a tubular disc means carrier snugly fitting said body so as to be substantially fluid tight therein and having its head accessible outside said body, exposed to atmosphere during the filling process and adapted for direct manual operation for clamping the disc means to said disc means seat at the close of said process, or for withdrawing the disc means from said seat, an opening in the wall of said body communicating with the bore of said carrier for discharge, and means associated with said carrier and said disc means for causing rupture of the latter.

10. A combined filling and discharging fixture for fluid pressure containers comprising a chambered fixture body having means for conducting fluid thereto and therefrom and provided with a disc means seat, a movable carrier plug provided exterior to the fixture with a wrench head and making joint with the body of the fixture and closing said chamber against any substantial leakage during filling, the part of said plug which makes joint with the fixture having a long screwthread to prevent escape of fluid, a disc means supported by said carrier plug in a position separated from the seat for charging and adapted to be clamped thereby to said seat, and a disc means-piercer applied to the-carrier plug in operative relation to the disc means.

11. A combination charging and discharging fixture for fluid pressure containers comprising a fixture body applied to a container of fluid pressure and having an internal chamber through which said container is charged and discharged, a sealing disc means, a disc means seat, a tubu- -lar disc means carrier mounted movably in said chamber and making a substantially tight joint with said body and having a portion operable from the exterior of the fixture for use in clamping the disc means upon its seat, said carrier being provided with a port extending through the body of the tubular disc means-carrier to its interior bore above its disc means, and said bore being adapted to receive a disc means-opening member.

12. A combination fixture for fluid pressure containers of. the kind described, comprising a fixture body connected to the container and hav ing a sealing disc means and disc means seat, and a movable tubular disc means-carrier having a substantially fluid tight fit in said body and having. a disc means opening member movable therein, said carrier and said member both having op crating heads outside of the fixture body, each of said heads being adapted for direct manual operation outside of said body and independently of each other whereby the container may be discharged optionally by withdrawing the disc means from its seat or by rupturing the disc means, said fixture body having a lateral opening in communication with the bore in said disc means carrier when said disc means is seated.

. CHARLES S. JOHANN. 

